Oceana and Hover
by madisoncumberbatch
Summary: Two sisters' worlds are ripped apart following the deaths of their family. Before their guardian, Jeb Batchelder, mysteriously disappeared, he had given them two words: Maximum Ride. When they find her, they discover a new start, and try to forget their old life. But the past is a hard thing to avoid.
1. Chapter 1 - Hover

The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective. In times such as these, when Oceana just won't stop talking, I kinda wish I could face some imminent death. After a while, her talking starts to put you to sleep.

"I can't believe you took it this far, Hover. When we first started, I humored you. That was when I thought we were just going to poke around in, you know, a couple likely places. Then you decided to take it to a whole new level. I've followed you across deserts and mountains and swamps, without complaint. But I just don't think I can handle this much–"

"Oceana, I love you, but I swear, if you cannot be quiet for one minute so I can think, I will have no choice but to duct tape your mouth shut!" In the sullen silence that followed, I stared below us. Way below us. Like hundreds and hundreds of feet below us.

Ah, I forgot to mention – we were flying. More on that in a sec…

I studied the landscape. "Water source, sheltered location," I said, angling my wings so I gracefully dived toward the earth. "I think it's worth a look."

Oh, you caught that "wings" part. You see, many years ago, some very evil scientists did some experimenting with DNA and the like, and somewhere along the line, my sister, Oceana, and I ended up with wings. That's our story in a nutshell.

I landed on the edge of a cliff and peered into the abyss. Oceana landed behind me.

"Let me guess," she said in her most sarcastic voice. "There's nothing."

"CeeCee, you really have given up, huh?" I said, turning to face her.

"Well all we have to go on is the word of someone who abandoned us."

I shook my head. "He died. He didn't abandon us."

"There's no proof, Hov – "

"Oceana I know it, okay? I just…" Ugh. Now CeeCee was mad at me, we still hadn't found what we were looking for, and I was thinking about Jeb again. Brilliant.

He had rescued us from the "Scientist University"- Sky-U for short. It's the place where those evil people did evil things to us. For two years he had kept my family and I safe. Of course, he failed for six of them…

Oh jeez, can I go for three seconds without thinking about dead people? Is that too much to ask for?

As much as I try to blame their death on Jeb, I can't lie to myself. I know deep down that it's my fault. CeeCee feels responsible, too. But it's not her fault; it's mine. All mine.

"Hey," Oceana tapped my shoulder. She seemed to sense where my thoughts were. "There's nothing here. Let's get going."


	2. Chapter 2 - Hover

In a lot of books, here would be a long explanation of my life story, my family, my hopes and dreams, blah, blah, blah. Ick. I think you're smart enough to keep up, and there are more important things right now.

CeeCee and I pored over our map, deciding where to go next. When we had first bought it at a run-down gas station in Kentucky, it had been crisp and unmarked. Now, it was wrinkled and torn, stained with various substances, and almost covered in scribbles.

"That's the last probable location in South Dakota," I said, adding another scribble.

"For all we know, they could be living in one of the millions of improbable locations in any of the…" She did a quick count. "…forty-one states we've already checked."

"Moving on," I said, stuffing the map into my backpack. "My turn to pick a state."

"And for all we know, Jeb could have been lying," I turned sharply to face her. "Or-or mistaken," she quickly added.

"What do you want me to do, Oceana?" She looked down at her hands, silent. "Pass up our only chance to have a family again? Give up?" I sighed. I was exhausted. "I know it's been hard. We've been looking for half a year now, but…" I didn't know what to say. I had been having the same doubts myself.

"Okay." What? That was surprising. When CeeCee wanted something, she would pout and whine and complain and wheedle and beg until she got it. This was a nice change.

"Colorado," I said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I pick Colorado."

"It's my turn!"

"What? You picked the last three!"

"Nuh-uh."

We continued to argue as we leapt off the cliff and began our journey to the mile-high state. Maybe this would finally be the one.


	3. Chapter 3 - Oceana

I was the one who saw it. I just want to put that out there.

"I SEE IT!" I screamed.

"No duh, Oceana," Hover snapped. "I saw it five minutes ago. Now can you shut up, please? It could be a den of Erasers."

Erasers. Just thinking about them gave me the shivers. They guarded Sky-U. They're sort of like werewolves, though not like the cute ones in Twilight.

But back to what I saw. We were looking down at a house that was hidden in a little nook in a mountain so the only way you could see it was from the air. It seemed promising so far. But there had been so many places that had looked promising and had turned out to be nothing. I knew not to get my hopes up too soon… though I couldn't help hoping just a little.

"What do you think –" I began.

"Shh."

"Hey! I was whispering."

"Just…shh." Jeez. Sometimes Hover can be really mean. I mean, I was being really quiet. Just then, I noticed that a small figure had left the house and was walking across the lawn.

"Look," I hissed. "There's someone down there." It looked like a child, probably a boy. He held an object in his hands with wires coming out in all directions. Squinting, I tried to figure out what it was. Then it hit me. It was a bomb.


	4. Chapter 4 - Hover

I laughed.

"It's not funny!" Oceana screeched. I slapped my hand over her mouth, praying that the boy hadn't heard her. I yanked my hand away before she bit it, and made a shushing gesture. She responded with a rather obscene one. "He's carrying a bomb, Hov!" she whispered angrily.

"Yeah, and he's about 6 years old. Baby."

"Babies can still harm people."

"I was calling you a baby," I said, playfully kicking her.

"My reply is still the same."

I stuck my tongue out at her (we're very mature), and started to dive. Oceana grabbed the hood of my sweatshirt, causing me to come to a painful stop.

"Ow! God, CeeCee are you trying to strangle me?" I flapped my wings in her face, causing her to let go.

"You can't go down there," she said, her eyes wide with panic. "He's got a bomb!"

"Okay, fine, fine," I sighed. "We'll plan this out better. I'll land behind him and attract his attention, then you –"

I stopped abruptly, because another boy was leaving the house, a backpack slung across his thin shoulders.

"Use your power, Hover," CeeCee said quietly. "This could be it, so we have to make sure."

I considered. "I'm not sure we need it…" The boys were moving across the lawn now. I saw that the second one was much older, probably 16. "Let's just watch for a bit, okay?"

Oceana heaved a huge, dramatic sigh, but was quiet until, "Oh my God…" she whispered suddenly. "They're… flying."


End file.
